Synergetics
explorations in the geometry of thinking
by R. Buckminster Fuller · first published 1975
14mentions
5recommended by
12HN commenters
2012–2026first – last mentioned
42% recommend50% neutral8% critical
tensegrity, polyhedra, systems-thinking
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…tensegrity have quite precise definitions- conceptually, as well in mechanical terms. If you want to get a true introduction to the depth and breadth of his thinking, I highly recommend his magnum opus 'Synergetics' [1]. Otherwise, at least take a glance at the meta-structure/heuristics behind his geometrical and design work [2]. [1]http://www.amazon.com/Synergetics-Explorations-Geometry-Buck... [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synergetics_(Fuller)
on “ Buckminster Fuller - Everything I Know (42 hours of video)” ↗Definitely loved Julian Jaynes. It's a "just so" story, but quite compelling and interesting - enough so to have a cult following. Probably the most challenging/rewarding book I've ever read was Fuller's Synergetics. It offers an understanding of science and nature that is holistic in a way that is timeless and self-evident. http://www.amazon.com/Synergetics-Explorations-Geometry-Buck...
on “Ask HN: Whats the most challenging book you have ever read?” ↗…particularly compelling, although perhaps I'm biased by the poor quality of many recordings). I would humbly advocate pushing through regardless, as I found the material to be profound; I'd also suggest "Synergetics" [0], which employs a similar style, but is much more STEM-oriented than the "Spaceship Earth" quasi-narrative. But having said that, I don't blame anyone who finds the style too tedious; I have a similar…
on “Buckminster Fuller on a long thin wire” ↗Buckminster Fuller's Synergetics. It's online, btw. Hard to read, but well worth the effort. I have been reading it since I first got it, a couple decades ago.
on “Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?” ↗…reprogram the way you think, and give you a tabula rasa frame of mind about the subject. The act of voluntarily interpreting the meaning of his words rewires you a bit. I love how in the beginning of Synergetics he spends pages building an argument to justify the statement "1 + 1 = 4." He was insistent that we reformulate our most basic notions about value and equivalence.
on “Buckminster Fuller on a long thin wire” ↗…means something altogether different at different scales This is a really absurd assertion, since it's one of the key focuses of his work- the geometric and mathematical implications of scaling designs. "Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking" talks about this concept he supposedly fails to understand in extreme depth. > Fuller did not accept evolution and saw the world as the creation of an intelligent…
on “‘Inventor of the Future’ Review: Buckminster Fuller’s Big Designs” ↗…philosophy that an entirely new way if thinking is required. The act of deciphering meaning from his words forces you to read critically and deliberately, which places you in the frame if mind he wants. In Synergetics, for instance, he constructs an elaborate argument about the construction of a tetrahedron, leading up to a page containing the equation, printed in 128 pt. font, "1 + 1 = 4." It's a cognitive leap for…
on “Tensegrity (1961)” ↗…who thought the same way I have with a requisite technical background to see the implications of this school of thought, and so far, that is all other than perhaps, Buckminster Fuller in his 1982 book, Synergetics - which deals with the same concept. I worked on this a few years and then I put it down, about 12 years ago. I hit the end of my cognitive ability in the research and haven't returned. It's a redefinition…
on “Tensegrity” ↗…Only one other person did the same for hours sometimes until closing time. When I asked this older guy what he was looking up on Gopher he mentioned he was on a mailing-l discussing Buckminster Fuller, Synergetics and an in my view weird but fascinating mathematical philosophical system. Now much older and much more acquinted with philosophy, science, alternative (dymaxion) sleeping patterns and spirituality I…
on “Buckminster Fuller - Everything I Know (42 hours of video)” ↗…five, six, seven, and eight, respectively [3]. [1] http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/~wrf/Teaching/graphics-s2005/heckber... [2] https://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/bg-equat... [3] Fuller. R.B. Synergetics. MacMillan, New York, 1975,~. 125.
on “Disney's Hyperion Renderer” ↗Bucky Fuller was big on measuring shapes relative to triangular / tetrahedral coordinates. “Synergetics coordinates”. See e.g. http://www.rwgrayprojects.com/synergetics/s09/p6300.html#966... The advantage of measuring area relative to a unit simplex is that it gets rid of a factor of n! in the denominator…
on “Proof without words: Cubes and Squares” ↗…contributions without idolizing them? I would agree, yes, he had some objectively interesting ideas and proposals. The idolizing masses surrounding him makes it impossible to critique things like his Synergetics textbook, which was … not good to be generous.
on “Buckminster Fuller’s greatest invention was his own image” ↗…about his inventions when I was growing up, it was inspiring to me. It’s also true though there’s a lot to be skeptical of, and it was also an education of sorts to go down the rabbit hole and read his Synergetics textbooks and discover he makes endless assertions that are not supported and also hard to parse.
on “Buckminster Fuller: everything I know” ↗…repetition, but to the successful explorer is known to be essential mustering of operational strategies from which alone new thrusts of comprehension can be successfully accomplished. R. Buckminster Fuller – Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking > Delusional interpretation is a false deduction drawn from an accurate perception. The subject perceives correctly, but reasons wrongly; in him, judgment is…
on “Illusions of Understanding in the Sciences” ↗